HARDWARE: On the Run
by hthrun
Summary: The followup to HARDWARE: Civil War starring Hardware and Black Cat.


HARDWARE 104: I STILL Hate Hospitals (by Henry Thrun)1

HARDWARE 105: On the Run(by Henry Thrun)2

HARDWARE 106: On the Run Part 2 (by Henry Thrun)5

HARDWARE 107: On the Run Part 3 (by Henry Thrun)6

HARDWARE 108: On the Run Part 4 (by Henry Thrun)7

HARDWARE 104: I STILL Hate Hospitals (by Henry Thrun) 

I woke up the next morning in my hospital bed. Black Cat was sitting nearby reading a magazine. "Good morning, sunshine."  
"What the..."  
"Here are your meds, sweetheart, including the ones you brought from home. We brought your whole pack of stuff."  
"What's with all the sappy nicknames...?" Then I realized she was doing it again. Just like when she was taking me in, she was lifting my spirits during a crisis. I had just lost my right arm, my strong one, and I was going to be heading straight to prison with some of the greatest super villains the world has ever known. Yet all I was thinking about, that early in the morning was Felicia's smile. Oh man, they must have really drugged me...  
"I can stop if you really want me too..."  
"No! I... I really appreciate you... I mean, it."  
She giggled. "It's the least I could do for the man who saved my life." The last time this happened I felt dread. This time, however, I felt... "You're my hero!" cracked Felicia in a damsel-in-distress manner.  
"Oh, yeah... good one, heh heh."  
"Seriously, though, thank you. I begged Tony to let me stay with... I mean, to guard you here. I can't believe you did that for me."  
"Anytime, Felicia... Actually, I guess I can only do it one more time," I quipped as I held up my remaining hand.  
"Wow, you're sure in a good mood for someone who just got his arm blown off."  
"Hey, it was worth it to save you."  
"My, Jake, a girl could take that as flirting..."  
"Uh, I mean... Sorry about that. No, really I'll be fine. After I serve my time, I'll be able to just download an arm from my Hardware and use that. I have to admit that I'll miss being able to feel things with it as well... In the mean time I'll get by with the prosthetic."  
"Um, Tony's not going to let you use a prosthetic..."  
"What! There's no way I'll be able to get by. It was going to be hard enough without my powers, now I'm going to be in there without my arm!"  
"It's total BS, Jake, I agree. Tony's just getting back at you for that fight."  
"Yeah... Dang it! Could you cheer me up again?"  
"Well, I know of something we could do while you're stuck in that bed..."  
"Uhhh... Jokes will be fine."  
"Gee, Jake, a girl could take that as a rejection..." She actually looked disappointed. I thought she was only kidding, but I guess she was at least hoping to flirt.  
"Oh, not at all, Felicia. I guess I'm just a little uncomfortable with, uh, joking around with flirting and stuff."  
"Silly! Of course I was just kidding. We'll have to wait until you get out of here. We wouldn't want a nurse walking in on us. On second thought..."  
"Ha ha. So, how much longer am I going to be here." I had to change the subject, fast!  
"Everything seems to be going well. We'll probably take you out tomorrow. Others will meet us here and we'll... take you in." She trailed off at the end there, again looking upset.  
"Are you the only one here?"  
"No, it's just like the drive. There are more enforcers in the hallway, the lobby, and outside. We've really increased the manpower after yesterday. What was that all about, with Cyclops there?"  
"I wish I knew. I really do..."  
The doctor came in. "Hi, Jake, how are you feeling?" I went through things with him for awhile. After that I just hung out with Felicia the rest of the day. She kept my mind off of everything that was going to happen the next day. It was actually the first time I enjoyed being in a hospital... and I had just lost my arm. I wonder if it was ever going to really hit me.

At the end of the day Felicia got in another bed. "You've been here all day. Aren't you going to trade off with someone?"  
"Nah, I'm here for the duration! Good night."  
"Good night."

Later that night I woke up to find myself moving. I was being pushed down a hallway. I turned to see who was pushing. "Felicia?" She was wearing a nurse's outfit.  
"Shhh! Lie back down. We're getting out of here!"

HARDWARE 105: On the Run(by Henry Thrun) 

"Felicia! Are you crazy! Don't you know how much trouble we'll get in?"  
"Yeah! Exciting, isn't it?"  
"I've got to go back." When I tried to get up, she grabbed my shoulder and pinned me down, holding me while she pushed us out to a parking lot.  
"You're so cute when you struggle. Here, get in the car."  
"No, Felicia, I have to..."  
"Do you really want to fight about it? After how easily I just handled you?"  
I slid off the table and got in the passengers side. "You weren't driving this before..."  
"Of course not, the other one was Stark's," she replied as she circled the car. "I had to get something they couldn't trace as easily."  
"How'd you get this one?"  
"I have connections," she answered as she sat in the driver's seat and backed out.  
"Ugh, my head hurts."  
"Sorry about that. I knew you would struggle and I didn't want the hassle while carrying you around. We had to fit through some tight places to sneak past all the guards. But that's no problem, it's what I do for a living!"  
"So you punched me?"  
"No, I just drugged your milk." We pulled out to the street and started driving away from the hospital.  
"Why are you doing this? Where are you taking me?"  
"I haven't thought that far ahead. First thing we need to do is change our appearance. A woman with white hair and a black man with one arm will stand out like a sore thumb. Oh, here are your glasses by the way. I brought along your meds and stuff."  
"Thanks. We're going to get disguises? What exactly's going on, Felicia?"  
She paused. "Jake, you don't deserve any of this. I'm not going to let them throw you in jail, especially with the freaks they'd throw you with."  
"So... you're kidnapping me? We're fugitives?"  
"Don't worry, Jake. We'll be fine as long as we lay low."  
"But I turned myself in for a reason. I need to go back!"  
"I don't know what's wrong with you, but I'm sure as hell am not going to let you go back there. I'm... I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Understand? So you might as well just enjoy the ride."  
"You're doing this because... you _care_?"  
"What's wrong with that?" she shot back. "Isn't it ok for me to do something that's not for money?"  
"No, I... This is great!" Again I didn't know what to think. I felt that God wanted me to turn myself in. But I also didn't want to throw away what Felicia was trying to do for me, trying to help me out so unselfishly. But we were running from the law, which was why I turned myself in to begin with. I was too tired and drugged to keep thinking about it, so I took Cat's advice and relaxed. "Thanks, Cat."  
"Sure thing! Fighting all those superheroes was getting boring, anyway."  
"Look, I'm already in trouble. If we get caught, I'll take the fall, ok?"  
"You worry too much. We'll switch cars after a while and keep heading west. But right now we have to do something about how we look. Where's your house? You can get your stuff and use one of your doohickey arms. But we have to hurry before they discover you're gone and check the place."  
"I hid all my stuff before I surrendered. Plus, I hide laptops and jump drives all over the city in case of such emergencies. There's one not too far from here."  
"Aren't you afraid someone will find them?"  
"I hid them rather well. I also have them rigged to self-destruct upon improper tampering, so even if someone does find one they would have to know how to open it." And just in case this is some kind of trick by Black Cat, I'd be able to detonate them with a voice command. But if this was a trick, Felicia deserves an Academy Award for her performance.

We stopped and I got my hidden laptop and accessories. We then pulled into a rest stop after some more driving. Felicia opened the trunk and it was full of supplies... and cash.  
"You really came prepared!"  
"I'm no amateur, honey."  
Felicia shaved my head and I was going to let a goatee grow. I then helped cut her hair shorter and color it black. Finally we both put on some normal clothes.  
"Nice look, cue ball."  
"Likewise, Cat. Talk about an ambush makeover."  
"Let's hit the road. We need to get some food and sleep."  
"A little catnap, Felicia?"  
"Ugh, maybe I _should_ take you back!" she laughed as we got in the car.

Meanwhile, Valerie Cooper received a call at the Xavier Institute. "Hello, Mr. Stark. I hope your inspection had satisfactory results."  
"Yes, Miss Cooper, but I'm calling on another matter. Nordsworth _and_ Miss Hardy disappeared last night. Cyclops's involvement in the previously unsuccessful abduction leads me to believe the X-Men may once again be involved. There was no sign of struggle and our men standing guard saw nothing. This sounds like it could be the work of Nightcrawler. Do you mind if we question him?"  
"Yes, of course. Please give us some time to fetch him."  
"We're sending some men over again. You have until they arrive. They will also do an even more thorough investigation of the premises." Stark hung up and the monitor went blank.  
Valerie exited the room and approached Cyclops and Emma Frost. "Scott, we need to lock you up again. And we need to get Kurt."  
"What's going on?"  
"Hardware and Black Cat are both missing. Tony thinks Kurt may be behind it. Emma, could you please bring him here while I get Scott ready again?"  
"Uhh... I'll be right back." This is getting too complicated, Emma thought as she walked away. Kurt's with the Professor on that mission to get Vulcan. Mystique's going to have to take his place for now, but now we'll also have Stark's men searching the place...  
"Valerie, we have to find him!" said Scott as they hurried outside.  
"I know! But we're already under so much scrutiny. It may be impossible..."  
"We could be in even more trouble with Jake out in the middle of nowhere. Or it may already be too late..."  
"We'll have to take care of that when it happens. For now let's do what we can..."

Peter Parker entered the room where Tony Stark was sitting at his desk. "What's up, boss?"  
"Peter, Jake and Felicia are missing."  
"What? Do you know what happened?"  
"No. We didn't catch them on surveillance and the guards didn't see a thing. We're going to inspect the Xavier Institute further and question some of the X-Men. But I also believe Hardware may have kidnapped Cat and escaped."  
"What? He wouldn't do that. Why surrender in the first place? And he's too weak now to pull that off."  
"Peter, you know all he had to do was somehow sneak in a jump drive No matter what happened, we'll find Felicia and get her back."

HARDWARE 106: On the Run Part 2 (by Henry Thrun) 

Felicia and I stopped at a hotel. We picked up some food and supplies, but now we were both exhausted. Figuring we should be pretty safe for now, we decided to get some rest and try getting a new car tomorrow.

Felicia and I walked up to the front desk with our "luggage."  
"Excuse me, darling," Felicia asked the girl behind the front desk. "Could we get a room for tonight?"  
"Sure, I'll be right back." The girl walked over to use a computer.  
"Felicia," I whispered, "umm, could we get separate rooms?"  
"I don't want to draw any more suspicion. How would that look after we pulled up in the same car?"  
"Yeah, but... well, I supposed..."  
The girl came back and asked for some information. Cat was all prepared with fake IDs and everything. She really was a pro, and I have to admit I was impressed.

Once we got to our room, we dropped the luggage, Felicia lied down in bed, and I collapsed in a chair. I then morphed my robot are back to what was left of my human arm. It was aching quite a bit and I started holding it. "Felicia, where did you pack my meds?"  
"Here you go," she said as she opened one of the bags and tossed them to me. I sifted through and took one of the pain relievers.  
"Thanks."  
"No problem. But why don't you just leave on your mechanical arm?"  
"You see, when I switch to a mechanical body, it's like I download it off of a drive and swap my human body onto the drive. So when I switch back, my human body is just as it was when I first made the change. If my arm's ever going to stop hurting, I need to let it run its course."  
"Ah, I see. What are those other pills for? The ones you brought with you?"  
"Anger. And depression, but mostly anger."  
"Oh." She paused. "You don't seem like the type..."  
"I guess they must be working," I replied, trying to lighten the mood.  
"Yeah," replied Felicia with a chuckle.  
"Which reminds me, at some point I'll need to get a refill. Otherwise the withdrawal is pretty nasty."  
"We'll figure something out. For now, let's just relax."  
"Sounds good to me! I need to clean up." I got up and started pulling out some clean clothes.  
"Great idea!" Felicia said excitedly. "I'll join you!" And she hopped from the bed and started getting undressed.  
"Whoa! Hold on, Felicia. Why don't you go first."  
"Ah, no reason to be scared, honey" she said with a big grin. "I'll be gentle."  
"Felicia, I am really, really flattered. But... I can't, ok?"  
"C'mon, Jake. Loosen up!"  
"I'm sorry, Felicia. I'll be honest, I'd really like to. But I'm waiting for marriage."  
"Ha!" she replied as she came closer. "You'll be able to do it again."  
"Felicia, I'm sorry. But I'm serious."  
Felicia stopped and she got an expression that was part disappointment and part unbelief. "I guess Peter wasn't kidding," she said as she sat back down on the bed. "You really are a religious fanatic."  
I found that amusing. "Heh, Peter said that?" She didn't respond. "Cat, I'm sorry. I don't want you to feel rejected or anything. I really do find you attractive, I do. But my faith is important to me. It's nothing against you, nothing at all. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything..."  
"Just go take your shower."  
I felt really bad, but I didn't know what else to say. When I got done, I found Felicia fast asleep on the bed. I grabbed some extra sheets and lied down on the floor to sleep myself.

HARDWARE 107: On the Run Part 3 (by Henry Thrun) 

I woke the next morning and heard the shower running. I sat up and decided to do a little meditation. The shower turned off Felicia walked out in a robe, "Oh, you're awake," she said surprised. "Oops, I'm sorry, are you praying?"  
"Nah, I'm just playing some Minesweeper in my head. Look, I'm sorry about last night..."  
"No, Jake, I'm sorry. I should have backed off. I just thought I felt a chemistry and... I feel so stupid. Let me go get dressed."  
"To be honest, Felicia, you're right. I am attracted to you. I have so much fun with you, even when we're doing nothing but talking. It's just... my faith is important to me, more than anything else."  
"So we can't be together because I'm not a strong Christian?" she was really feeling down.  
"It's just that with God being so important to my life, the only way I can with someone is if He is also as important to her. I know I sound like a blowhard, I don't mean to..."  
"No, no, not at all. This is all new to me, that's all. We should really get going. We can chat more in the car."  
"Sounds good!"  
"How's the arm, by the way?"  
"Or lack thereof?"  
"Heh, yeah..."  
"I need to take my meds, but it's getting better... Not Wolverine better, of course."  
"Heh heh."  
"Oh, I've got a little surprise for you planned..."  
"Oh really? Then let me hurry up!" She grabbed some clothes and went back into the bathroom. I'm glad she was ticked any more. I hated seeing her depressed like that. I started packing up our stuff.

"So when do I get this surprise?" Felicia asked as she came out of the bathroom.  
"Not for a while yet, but here's a little something to tide you over." And I morphed into very stripped down, skeletal Hardware.  
"Not quite what I was hoping for..."  
"This is my storage drive," I said as I gathered all our luggage together and morphed back into Jake, absorbing all the luggage with my Hardware into the drive. "I made that robot intentionally small to consume as little memory on the jump drive as possible. Perfect for storing things."  
"Nice trick."  
"Trust me, the real surprise will be better. Can you drive some more? I'm going to make copies of this drive just to be safe. Wouldn't want everything we own to fall out of my pocket..."

We continued east, heading towards my old stomping grounds in Minnesota. I was working on my laptop and we were enjoying the ride.  
"You know," I said, "I never thought being a fugitive on the run could be such a nice vacation. I mean, look at all the lovely scenery!"  
"You better be careful or you're going to lead me back into a life of crime," joked Cat. "But then I guess I'd never have a chance with you."  
"Um, Felicia. If you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you doing this for me?"  
"What do you mean? I told you Tony's full of crap. I'm not letting you get effed up in jail."  
"But why me? Was it just timing and you felt like an adventure? Did you all of a sudden feel this way about this Civil War? Wait, I'm sorry. I'm being pushy. You don't have to answer any of that."  
"No, it's ok. Actually, it's a mix of all that. And, to be honest, I also really enjoyed talking to you at the hospital."  
"You enjoyed it _that_ much?"  
"You dork! Ok, ok, just listen." She started tearing up. "Back in college, I was raped by my boyfriend..."  
"Oh, Felicia! I'm so sorry. I had no idea..."  
"Yeah, right," she said through tears. "You know everything..."  
"No. I'm sure if I had done some searching online I would have found it eventually, but... I'm so sorry."  
"Forget it," she said through tears. "It was a long time ago." She pulled herself together and continued. "The thing is, I hated being a victim so much I started training so I could kill him. I was going to murder that little bastard, but he ended up dying in a frickin' car accident."  
"Oh man. I can't imagine what you were going through..."  
"Ever since then, I've been living for thrills. Throwing myself wildly about and trying to take charge of my life. I've been living for my own pleasure, especially in my relationships. Even with Peter, which was my most serious relationship since, was mainly just physical. But it's different with you. We actually communicate and enjoy being with each other. I mean, we haven't even kissed but I feel more comfortable with you than any other guy I've been with... Uh, does that answer your question."  
"Huh? Oh, ahhh, yeah. Yeah, it sure does..."  
"So what do you think?"  
"I think I pretty much told you where I'm at..."  
"Oh, yeah. Hey, I'd be willing to give church a try. It wouldn't kill me or anything..."  
"Don't do just for me, Felicia, or for any guy. Don't attach a relationship with God to another relationship."  
"Relationship?"  
"Yeah. Oh, take a left up here. It's time for your surprise."  
"This has a lot of hype to live up to, Jake!" Felicia replied cheerfully.

HARDWARE 108: On the Run Part 4 (by Henry Thrun) 

Felicia followed my directions and we ended up at an amusement park. "What do you think?" I asked. "I thought we deserved a night of some thrills. I know it's not quite jumping around on the rooftops or fighting crime, but..."  
"Is this an official date, Jake?"  
"Well, uh, you know where I stand on everything, so..."  
"Yeah, yeah, how could I forget?" she replied with a grin.  
"Well then, sure, why not. It's a date," I replied embarrassed. "Oh, leave the keys in the ignition," I instructed as we got out.  
"Huh?"  
"We need to switch rides, right?"  
"Yeah, but what are we switching to?"  
"You'll see," I replied with a huge grin.  
"Wow, Jake, I'm impressed," Felicia said as we walked to the entrance gate. "You weren't kidding when you said you had a surprise. You're full of them!"  
"Hey, I'm not a boring computer geek all the time," I replied with a smile right before taking a couple motion sickness pills.  
"You take those like candy. How do you manage to fly around like you do?"  
"Just my human body gets sick." We paid and went inside.  
"Then you better change to a robot fast!" Felicia said as she grabbed my arm and started running to the nearest rollercoaster. We got on, it started up the first incline, and the dropped down the other side, people screaming with delight. "Yahoo! You're right," said Felicia. "Not quite as thrilling as my normal job. But still... Whoa!"  
I was glad to see her enjoy it. "I think I'm going to hurl..."  
"Ha ha! Wuss!"

I actually did fine as the pills kicked in. We went racing from ride to ride. It was a wonderful break form everything we had been through. No thinking about what was going on back home. For the time, we had forgotten about our friends fighting each other with a city in the middle paying the price. It felt good to be so carefree.

We decided to grab some food quick. As we were walking towards a food stand, someone called out, "Hey, buddy, come on over and win your girlfriend a prize!" It was one of those games where you had to throw a ball through a hole, you know the type.  
"C'mon, Jake, win me something nice!"  
"It doesn't seem quite fair, though. I've got a computer brain and a bionic arm."  
"Bah. These guys cheat people out of money all the time. Even if you win the prize isn't worth what it cost to play."  
"Yeah, that's true." And we walked up to the stand.  
"You get three chances," the guy said, handing me three balls. "Just get one through that little hole right there."  
"Gee, that seems awfully tough!" I replied, holding in laughter.  
Felicia jumped in. "You can do it, honey. I believe in you!"  
I just about broke out laughing, but then quickly threw one ball through my target, then threw the second ball one through the next target over, and threw the third ball through the next target after that. All while standing in one place.  
"Uh," the guy was speechless.  
"Beginner's luck," I said. "So what did I win?"  
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Here's something cute and romantic for the little lady." He composed himself and with a big smile he handed Felicia a red plush spider shaped like a heart.  
Felicia held it in her hands, looking it over a little. "Um, actually, could I have that?" she asked pointing to a small plastic toy robot.  
"Really? That thing? Ok..." he said as he took the spider back and handed her the robot. "Doesn't seem quite as romantic though..."  
"I think it's much more romantic," Felicia replied as she turned to me with a big smile. "Let's go eat."  
"Sure thing," I replied, blushing.

We lived it up until the park closed. We were both pretty tired as we walked out to the parking lot. "Well, it worked," said Felicia. "Someone swiped our car."  
"Come with me. I'll show you what we'll be driving." I lead Felicia out from the parking lot lights behind some trees.  
"There's nothing here."  
"Just a second," I said as I morphed my arm back and pulled out the drive I was using. I put it away in my computer case and pulled out a new drive.  
"Now I think I'm going to hurl," Felicia joked as I put the new one in my forehead. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that." I then morphed into a motorcycle, decorated with a Black Cat theme.  
"So what do you think?"  
"Wow! I didn't know you could do that!"  
"Change into a vehicle? Heck, designing this is a piece of cake compared to the robots I make. This is what I was working on on our way over. Nobody's looking for a lone female riding a motorcycle."  
"But the Black Cat stuff might give it away..."  
"Oh, that's just for later," and I switched it to plain black.  
"Jake, I don't know what to say! I love it!"  
"You're very own Cat Cycle, ha ha! Grab the helmet and hop on!"  
"Looks like I'm going to get to ride you after all," she joked as she got on.  
"Whoa, Felicia!"  
"Just kidding, Jake, lighten up!"  
"Yeah, yeah," I laughed as I started out. "If you'd like to sleep just let me know. I have some harnesses built in that I can hold you on with. In this mode I can go all night!"  
"Yeah, but you'll be tired again when you change back. Let's just find a place to stay."  
"Ok, hold on!" And I jetted it out, accelerating to about 100 miles an hour. "I normally don't do this.."  
"Woo hoo! This is better than the rollercoaster! But we shouldn't draw any attention to ourselves."  
"Cat, you worry too much! I really suped this thing up. I can sense radar detectors from miles away. I also have radar built in to detect solid objects all around me far in advance. I could go much faster..."  
"Ok, then. Hit it!"  
"As you wish, my lady." WHOOSH!

We found a new hotel and crashed there. I downloaded all our stuff and we called it a night. I went to sleep in the bathroom this time, filling the tub with cushions.  
"Good night, Jake," Felicia called from the other room. "I had a great time!"  
"Me too, Felicia, good night."  
"Um, Jake, can I ask you something?"  
"Sure..."  
"Have you, uh, ever dated? I mean, you know all about me and Peter and... You don't have to answer if you don't want to."  
"No, that's fine. Yeah, I used to date here and there. It's been a while since I went on a date, though."  
"What happened?"  
"I got shot."  
"On your date?"  
"Yeah, we were ambushed by a few crooks and I got hit before I could morph."  
"Is that where you got those scars? I'm sorry, I noticed them at the hospital..."  
"Yep, some of them. So you're still interested in me even though I'm full of bullet holes and missing an arm?"  
"Oh yeah! It makes you seem dangerous!" We both laughed. "So, uh, was it serious."  
"No, not really. I've never had a very serious relationship. I think I would probably consider Ororo the most serious, but even that..."  
"Who? Did you say 'Oreo'?"  
"Ororo. You know, Storm of the X-Men."  
"Doesn't ring a bell..."  
"Anyway, when I hung out at the Xavier Institute she was one of my best friends. We got to know each other because of our African heritage. We would hang out quite a bit when I was there, but when I left she got involved with others. It was pretty much expected and we have always been good friends. She's like a sister to me now. I went to her wedding not long ago."  
"Who did she marry?"  
"Black Panther. You know him?"  
"No, but it sure sounds like he ripped off my name, heh heh."  
"I'm bushed, perhaps we can talk some more tomorrow?"  
"Count on it. Good night."  
"Good night."


End file.
